Burning Books Ireland

About Burning Books Ireland

If your house was on fire, what books would you save from the flames? The Books Ireland podcast features authors and well-known cultural figures discussing the titles that have formed the backdrop to their lives—their childhood memories perhaps, or books they fell in love with. Maybe there are authors they return to over and over, or novels which formed their world view—stories that shaped them or books which offered a refuge or a life raft. Editor Ruth McKee asks each guest which books they’d save, which they’d leave behind, and what other non-book treasure they would rescue from the flames.

Publisher

Burning Books

Category

arts · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

14 May 2021

Latest episode

29 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

62 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   29 Jun 2026

   58: John O’Donnell

   John O’Donnell’s fiction has been published in Counterparts (The Stinging Fly Press), The Hennessy Book of Irish Fiction,  The Sunday Tribune,  The Sunday Independent, The Stinging Fly,  Books Ireland, The Irish Times, and RTÉ’s The Book on One.  Awards include the Hennessy Award for Emerging Fiction and Cúirt Festival of Literature New Writing Prize for Fiction. He has also published four poetry collections, the latest of which is Sunlight: New and Selected Poems (Dedalus Press, 2018). His latest short story collection is Mr Hoo and Other Stories (Doire Press).

2. 

   5 Jun 2026

   57: Niamh MacCabe

   Niamh MacCabe tells Ruth McKee which books she would save if her house was on fire. Niamh Mac Cabe is an award-winning writer of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and hybrid prose. She's also a visual artist, and a lecturer on the Degree in Writing & Literature, the Degree in Performing Arts, and the Masters in Creative Practice programmes at ATU Sligo. Her debut short story collection Four Night Seas, is published by The Lilliput Press.

3. 

   28 Apr 2026

   56: Danielle McLaughlin

   Danielle McLaughlin tells Ruth McKee which books she would save if her house was on fire. Danielle McLaughlin's debut collection of short stories Dinosaurs on Other Planets was published in Ireland by The Stinging Fly Press in 2015 and her first novel The Art of Falling (John Murray) was shortlisted for the Dublin Literary Award in 2022. In 2023 she was a recipient of a Markievicz Award. Her latest novel Rituals is out now with The Stinging Fly Pres

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 33 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

36

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

76

Contact Burning Books Ireland

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about Burning Books Ireland